Asian Markets Rally on AI Spending Despite Oil Price Spike

South Korea’s KOSPI index led the regional surge with a 3% gain, fueled by heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. These companies stand as primary beneficiaries of the AI infrastructure boom currently being bankrolled by Alphabet and Tesla. The relentless appetite for semiconductor growth is creating a clear divergence between sector-specific optimism and broader macroeconomic anxiety.

Energy markets are reacting sharply to the shifting landscape in the Middle East, where recent actions against Iran and Houthi targets have pushed Brent futures up 2%. Thierry Wizman of Macquarie Group warns that this sustained pressure on oil prices poses a direct threat to global growth, a factor already reflected in the movement of short-term U.S. Treasury yields.